


Annie's Story

by ashleyy15



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Hopefully humor along the way, Innocent Annie, Memory Loss, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 17:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleyy15/pseuds/ashleyy15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knew Annie as the human-turned-titan murderer, but what if she's given a new life stripped from the horrible childhood memories and the hurt she suffered. What if she was given a life with new friends in the Survey Corps?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Annie's Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Abbeylights](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abbeylights/gifts).



Back in the dining hall, drinks were passed around and laughter-something that’s rarely heard nowadays-echoed through the walls. Even the commander had taken his time off from all the paperwork and planning to join in with the others, downing a glass of beer or two. The younger ones sat together while exchanging stories of their experiences on the last expedition outside the walls.

     But a certain blonde was excluded from the gathering, as he was assigned to _guarding_ another blonde by the name of Annie Leonhardt. Down in the basement where she was kept for the scientists to examine, Armin sat a few feet away from her crystallized form with a book in hand. It was silent and the only sounds that could be heard were the flipping pages of his book. His eyebrows were scrunched up as he focused on the words printed across the pages. Not everyone in the Survey Corps could _read_ so sometimes others would find it weird how Armin’s nose was always buried in one of the books.

     Usually, nothing could divert his concentration from books, but sitting in front of Annie made him a little unsettled. He had tried every sitting position, trying to adjust but nothing worked. In the end, he gave up, shut the book and just sat there looking at Annie. Her face looked pale behind the crystal; her eyes were shut, hiding the crystal blue irises of hers. Armin felt a wave of guilt when he remembered how he had somehow used guilt against her. Sure, it had helped humanity in certain ways but he still felt wrong. He hated it when thoughts like that invaded him at times when he was alone.

     From the corner of his eyes, something moved. “What?” He blinked several times, wanting it to be an illusion. “Oh God, I need sleep.” He could have sworn Annie’s fingers twitched. This was messed up. “Out of all the other braver people, they choose me to guard you while they go celebrating with beer WITHOUT ME.” Armin shook his head, wondering if weeks of fighting titans had finally taken a toll on him. “Look at me; I’m talking to a crystallized girl who probably couldn’t even hear me.”

     Armin gasped, watching as Annie’s fingers twitched even more. It wasn’t an illusion, Armin thought with wide eyes. His first instinct was to rush off to get Captain Levi or maybe even Squad Leader Hanji, but then the thought of Annie possibly escaping stopped him.

     A little shriek escaped his lips when her eyes opened, revealing her blue eyes. Her expression remained neutral, emotionless and Armin had a feeling she couldn’t really see him. He wasn’t even sure if she would respond. She looked so distant, like she was watching something else, just not what was in front of her. Armin hesitantly took a step towards her, his hand extended in front of him. “Annie…” Without thinking, he placed his hand on the cool crystal, his breath shaking from fear and anxiety. He watched as a single tear rolled down her cheek, and wondered if she could really feel anything from the other side.

\--

Everything was so cold and all Annie saw was darkness. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t remember what happened. There was something pulling, calling out for her. She couldn’t exactly hear it, but she could feel it. There’s something right in front of her, something so familiar yet foreign. Annie tried moving herself, finding it hard to do and she only managed to accomplish moving her fingers. _What’s going on?_

     What was that? She could hear something, it sounded almost like footsteps. Why couldn’t she see anything? Maybe her eyes were closed. Frustrated, she focused all her energy on her eyes and tried opening them. It took quite an effort but in the end she managed, her eyes were finally opened but then terror set in. She could only see herself reflected on something like crystal. Why did she look like that? Why was she wearing the MP’s uniform? She didn’t even remember growing up into a teenager.

     Like a little girl, afraid and confused, her first thought was to cry. She could feel tears welling up before a tear managed to escape. Then she felt surprised as sudden warmth radiated from the plane of crystal in front of her. _Annie…_ Someone was saying her name, the voice sounded familiar yet she couldn’t recognize it at the same time. _Annie Leonhardt._ ‘Why is someone saying my name?’ she thought. ‘Why is there crystal in front of me?’ Without thinking, she raised a hand, wanting to smash the reflection in front of her.

     “Annie…” Now she was sure there was someone behind the crystal. She brought her hand down, ignoring the pain that went up her arm as the crystal broke. Her body was free to move again, but exhaustion weighed down on her. She fell forward, expecting to land on broken shards of crystals, but was surprised when warm hands caught her. “Annie! Oh God, someone help!” Annie weakly looked up, spotting a blonde boy with incredible blue eyes. She didn’t recognize him, but she felt as though she could trust him and so she fell unconscious into his arms, once again enveloping darkness.

\--

Levi wasn’t having much fun watching his friend and commander’s drunken state. Hanji was laughing and talking about something that sounded oddly like titan’s butt. Commander Erwin, on the other hand, was just nodding to everything she said, occasionally laughing with that flushed face of his. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Eren laughing with his friends, the only person absent was the blonde kid who followed him around.

     He sighed, deciding that he might check on Armin. He could dimly recall the times when he guarded the girl titan down in the basement, alone. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, Levi was very sure of that. So he got up and left the table. As he walked passed Eren’ table, he felt someone tugging on his sleeve. He gave a sideway glance and found the hand on his shirt belonged to the titan boy himself.

     “What do you want, brat?”

     “Are you going to see Armin?” He asked. “Sir?”

     “Yes.”

     “I’ll come with you.” Eren excused himself from his friends before following after Levi. The two of them walked in silence, both not wanting to start the conversation. So they remained like that until they reached the basement.

     “Captain, I-“ Eren’s sentence was cut off when they suddenly heard the sound of glass breaking.

     “ _Annie! Oh God, someone help!_ ” Levi rushed forward, recognizing Armin’s voice. He pushed the door open and rushed in, feeling dread pool in his stomach when he observed the scene before him. The crystal was broken and shards of it were scattered everywhere. Armin was kneeling on the ground a few feet away from the crystal. Blood flowed from the side of his forehead, as if he’d been scratched. There, in his arms, lay a limped Annie.

     “Armin!” Eren began to surge forward but Levi caught his arm. “Captain, what the hell? Armin’s hurt!”

     “Go get Hanji. Now!” He barked. Eren reluctantly went, not wanting to disobey Levi’s orders.

     “Captain, Annie broke the crystal!” Levi carefully advanced, not wanting to step on the broken shards. Once he was next to Armin, he quickly pulled the unconscious girl into his arms and lifted her up.

     “Get her ring off. We can’t have her transforming into a titan now. We don’t have our gear.” Armin did as he was told and slipped the ring into his pocket. “We have to get her to the infirmary. Tell Jaeger and Hanji to meet us there.” He said before walking away with Annie in his arms. To his surprise, the girl weighed like nothing compared to Eren’s unconscious body. Laying there in his arms, she looked peaceful and innocent; he found it hard to imagine that a girl like her could be responsible for so many deaths, especially the deaths of his comrades.

      He wanted to hate her, wanted to cut her like how he’d promise her a long time ago. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t harm her when she looked so much like a little girl.

\--

Annie could feel warm sunlight on her face. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open and the first thing she saw was white ceilings. Her body felt a little stiff, but she felt grateful that she could move again. She remembered breaking a crystal plane and falling into a blonde’s open arms. But she didn’t remember anything before or after that. There was a window beside her bed and a smile slowly crossed her face at the sight of a blue bird.

     “Ah, so you’re awake.” Her head turned to her right where a lady stood grinning at her. She had brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and brown eyes hiding behind glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose. She smiled at Annie, before making her way to sit on her bed. “So you’re the female titan. You look like a little girl though.” Annie blinked, confused at the lady’s words. She recognized the word titan but why did she think she was a titan? Annie was fully convinced that she’s a human too. Her eyes travelled to the badge sewed on the lady’s jacket.

     “You’re part of the Survey Corps.” Annie said in amazement. She had heard of them that they were brave soldiers who loved to venture outside the walls and fight titans. “Who are you?” Annie asked, tilting her head to the side.

     A confused expression crossed the lady’s face. “My name is Hanji Zoe. Do you remember how you broke the crystal form of yours?”

     “I just used my fist.” Annie answered. Then she gasped, finding her wrists chained to both sides of the bed. “What? What’s going on?”

     “You’re being arrested for taking the lives of hundreds.” Hanji said, her voice suddenly serious. “Don’t you remember what happened?”

     ‘The last thing I remember was my mother and my father smiling at me,’ Annie thought. ‘But that’s when I was six! How old am I even now?’ She shook her head, letting her blonde hair fall on her face. “I don’t remember anything.”

     “Well, that’s unfortunate.” A voice said and Annie almost jumped in surprise. She saw a man walking towards her bed, his face stoic and the glare on his face scared her a little. He was crossing his arms, looking at her like he was having conflicting emotions under that façade of his. “My name is Levi. The blonde over there is Armin.” Annie narrowed her eyes and craned her neck, surprised to find a blonde boy fast asleep on a chair next to her bed. ‘How did I not notice him there?’ she wondered.

     A series of banging came from the door, making Annie’s heart race. She hated how she was acting like a little girl when she looked like a teenager. Next to her, Armin woke up, startled by the sound. His blue eyes flickered to Annie’s. “Oh, hi.”

     “Hi.” Annie responded shyly.

     Armin’s eyes went to the door and he let out a groan. “I’m guessing that’s Eren.”

     “Who’s Eren?”

     Armin glanced at Annie, confused. “Eren is-“

     At that moment, the door slammed open and a brunette with large green eyes stormed in looking like he was about to murder someone. His eyes were glued to Annie’s, his fists clenched as if he was going to punch her any moment. Annie flinched slightly when the brunette pounced on her bed, his fists ready to collide with her cheek. She closed her eyes shut tightly, waiting for the blow that never came.

     “Eren, calm down.” Hanji’s voice said.

     Annie blinked her eyes open and look at the boy sacredly. She couldn’t think of any reason why he was angry at her.

     “Calm down? She killed my friends! She killed hundreds of people! She-“ Eren stopped his accusations and glanced at Annie, shocked. Tears were running down her cheeks, fear obvious in her eyes. Annie didn’t realize she was crying until she tasted a salty liquid on her mouth. She quickly wiped away the tears from her eyes and cheek.

     “Why is she crying?” Eren asked.

     “Because you stormed in here and wanted to punch her, idiot.” Levi responded, giving Eren an accusing look.

     “Wait, I would like to ask her something.” All eyes focused on Armin. He’d been so quiet, almost everyone forgotten that he’s in the room. Without waiting for permission, Armin scooted closer to Annie and gave her a gentle smile. “I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Armin.”

     “My name is Annie.”

     “Yes, I know.” At this point, Hanji was looking at both blondes with curiosity. Eren and Levi had too stopped bickering to watch them. “How old are you, Annie?”

     Annie shook her head. “I don’t know.”

     “Annie, do you know what you are?”

     Confusion clouded Annie’s face at this question. Why was everyone thinking that she’s a titan? Weren’t titans supposed to be huge and eating people for fun? “A human.” She answered, utterly convinced.

     “Keep this information within the legion. Once the MP knows about this, they won’t hesitate to hold a trial to get her in their hands.” Levi told the others. Turning to Annie, he said, “Welcome to the Survey Corps, Annie Leonhardt.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This story came to me when I'm like about to go to sleep. Excuse the little mistakes here and there :)


End file.
